Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Hillary Clinton just as odious as you thought

Here's Hillary Clinton giving us a crystal clear statement of the Obama administration's official position on the propriety of Israel's killing of 1285 Palestinians in Gaza, overwhelmingly civilians:

[W]e support Israel’s right to self-defense. The rocket barrages, which
are getting closer and closer to populated areas, cannot go unanswered.
And it’s, you know, regrettable that the Hamas leadership apparently
believes that it is in their interest to provoke the right of
self-defense instead of building a better future for the people of
Gaza.

Unfortunately none of the reporters at this press conference felt it was necessary to ask Clinton 1) if Palestinians have a similar right to self-defense, 2) what it would take to "provoke" this right, or 3) how many Israeli deaths would be justified—and rationalized by the United States, rather than condemned—once it was provoked.

These are remarks made by Obama (not Bush), on Jan. 22, and seen as
the first major statement by his administration regarding the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict: "Let me be clear: America is committed to
Israel's security. And we will always support Israel's right to defend
itself against legitimate threats." [...]

Funny how Obama started his statement
with "let me be clear." He cannot possibly be any clearer as he spent
endless hours for many months assuring Israel and its supporters, while
condemning Palestinians without any reservation or remorse.

My favorite part is this (in reference to Russia): "It's important for us to keep perspective about their capabilities." And meanwhile, it's also important for us to toss perspective aside as we pretend that Iran is a towering menace to our security.